A Fighting Chance
by The Amazing Kaito
Summary: Ryoga never really had a chance with Akane. But what would he do if he did? Chapter 4 now available: Ryoga and Akane go to the fair. Ukyo and Kenji have to work hard to keep the usual craziness of Nerima from intterupting the two.
1. Aliens, Amazons, and Students! Oh, my!

Ryouga never really did get a decent chance with Akane. Be it his own fault, Ranma's, or both. Yes, he does get shacked up with Akari at the end of the manga, but some may just say that was Takahashi-samma's way of making it up to him. But, like previously stated, Ryouga never really got a chance at competing with Ranma for Akane's love. But what if he did? This story takes place sometime after all the major characters are present, (Ukyo, Mousse, Shampoo, ect.) but before Akari is introduced.

Disclaimer:

Ranma½ is property of Rumiko Takahashi, and I or anyone else claiming ownership deserves to be thrown into the spring of drowned slug for such blasphemy. I do however, own all of the original characters in this story. Fortunately they are too pathetic to be stolen, not like I would care if they were. It'd be kind of flattering.

One more thing...

"dialogue"

'thoughts'

_"any language other than Japanese"_

Finally all the boring stuff is out of the way. Now on with the story! Ok lights, sound, theme music, and…

* * *

Ryouga Hibiki. The eternal lost boy. Ryouga never did have much of a life between cursing Ranma's very existence, and sulking about Akane not noticing him. Yes, the gods themselves seem to look down on the poor boy. All accept one god. His name was Luck, but preferred to be called Jim. He took pity on the poor lad, and decided to help him out. But the problem was how to go about doing that. The only spark of joy in Ryouga's life seemed to be Akane, but she only saw him as a friend. Maybe if he had a decent chance with her... 

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A FIGHTING CHANCE  
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**

* * *

CHAPTER 1: Aliens, Amazons, and Students. Oh, my!**

* * *

The Himalayas were always a peaceful place. And it wasn't just because its citizens were Buddhist monks, although it certainly helped. The mountains just had an aura of serenity that kept the average traveler from causing too much noise. Suddenly, the side of one of the mountains exploded outward, and a bandanna clad head poked itself out of the rubble. Too bad Ryouga Hibiki wasn't your average traveler.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW!" Ryouga screamed into the sky, causing a bunch of snow to fall off an overhead cliff and bury him for his insolence to the serenity of the mountains. After climbing out of the snow, Ryouga tried once more to get his bearings.

However, while all this was going on, Ryouga failed to notice the huge meteor falling towards him. It was odd shaped for a meteor (which don't really have a specific shape, but I'm fairly sure they don't look like a spaceship) and was about twenty meters long. It crashed near where the lost boy was standing, causing him to be thrown off his feet back into the snow drift.

"Why does this stuff always happen to me? I don't see Saotome lost in the mountains, buried in the snow, and kami knows he deserves it…" Ryouga grumbled to himself, and angrily dug himself out of the snow once again, only now noticing what looked like a crashed spaceship several feet away from him. He watched as a hatch opened and what appeared to be a young man crawled out, covered in soot, and coughing. The man only managed to crawl a few feet before collapsing. Ryouga walked over and prodded the man with his umbrella until he stirred.

"Hey, you ok?" Ryouga asked in concern.

"Ugh, that was wild…" the young man mumbled before becoming fully coherent and sitting up, his back resting against the mountainside. After brushing some of the soot off him, the young man looked up at Ryouga. "So, where are we?"

Ryouga studied the strange, meteor born man in front of him. He appeared to about Ryouga's age, with cobalt blue hair, emerald green eyes, and pointy ears. His clothes were still mostly covered in soot, but appeared to be some kind of jacket, a shit and pants. Realizing that he was staring, Ryouga hastily looked away and gave a reply. "Um, I'm not exactly sure. Looks like a mountain range of some kind."

"Yes, I can see that. Anyway, where's your nearest space port? As you can see, my ship is completely busted, and I need a new one to get back home." From the blank look he was getting, the man started to look worried. "You do know what I'm talking about, right? A spaceport?" Ryouga shook his head and the man suddenly started a full Soun Tendo Wail™. "I'M STRANDED ON A PRIMATIVE PLANET! I'M GOING TO DIE AN OLD HERMIT LIVING IN A CAVE, TALKING TO MYSELF!"

Ryouga eyed the cliff above wearily, fearing the noise would cause another small avalanche. "Hey, calm down before ano-" His words were cut off as another pile of snow buried the two young men. As they climbed out, Ryouga glared at the strange man. "See what I mean?"

"Hey, who are you, anyway?" He asked, as if seeing Ryouga for the first time.

"I'm Ryouga. Hibiki Ryouga. You wouldn't happen to know how to get to the Tendo Dojo, would you?"

"The name's Kenji. Kiyomori Kenji. And no, I don't even know what planet I'm on, much less how to get to your dojo. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do now. This has never happened to me before." Kenji looked very worried and scared at this point.

"So you're an alien, huh? Stranger things have happened, I suppose. Well if you don't have a place to stay, you can come with me until we can figure out how to get you home."

Kenji grabbed Ryouga by his shirt and stared into his eyes, full of hope. "Y... you r-realy mean it?"

"Uh, sure…"

Six weeks later…

"So Kasumi is gonna be gone for a week?" Ranma asked, already planning an extended training trip. Yeah, a nice long training trip in the mountains would do him some good. Maybe he'll even work on learning a few new tricks. Yup, that's what he needed to do. Go on a-

"Oh, no you don't, Ranma! You're not going anywhere!" Akane yelled, slamming her hands on the breakfast table that the Tendos and Saotomes were gathered around. "I know what you're thinking, but you're going to stay right here! Honestly, my cooking isn't that terrible!"

"Yeah, and neither is toxic waste, but I bet that's tastier..." Ranma mumbled to himself.

"I heard that!"

Further argument was cut off by a bright light filling the room, followed by two figures appearing a foot over the table. Unfortunately for the figures, that foot was filled only by air, which didn't seem to want to keep them suspended over the table. With a loud crash, the two figures, which happened to be Ryouga and Kenji, fell onto the table, scattering the food everywhere and generally causing a big mess.

Ignoring the situation he was in, Kenji stared at a strange device in his hand. "Is this the place, Ryouga?"

"Yeah, looks like it…"

Only then did the two boys notice everyone staring at them in shock. Ryouga laughed nervously, with a sheepish grin plastered on his face. Kenji simply smiled and waved. Both pushed themselves up into a sitting position, while Ryouga spoke for them. "Hi everyone. Long time, no see. Heh, heh…"

Their reply was to simply continue staring in shock.

Kenji sighed. "Ok, I suppose you all want some sort of explanation. Well, it's like this…"

* * *

"Shampoo, Mousse, come here for a minute. We have a guest." 

Shampoo entered the restaurant section of the Nekohanten. "Who is it, great grandmother? Is someone from village?" Upon seeing the young girl standing next to Colone, Shampoo frowned. _"Lo Chun. Why are you here?"_

The Amazon was about Shampoo's age with braided pink hair that went down to her waist. The giant battle axe strapped to her back was menacing, but not nearly as much as the look she had on her face upon seeing Shampoo._ "Go away, cat. It is no business of yours."_ Then upon seeing Mousse, her scowl became a friendly smile.

_"It has been a long time, Mou Tsu."_

Mousse was clearly surprised, but smiled back.. _"Yeah… Good to see you Lo Chun."_ Strangely, this seemed to make Shampoo even more upset.

Cologne rapped a table with her staff for attention. "This is Japan, speak the language. Now, the village has decided that the quest for son in law is taking too long, and has sent us backup. Also, Lotion will be training under me for a time while she is here."

Lotion bowed deeply to Cologne. "It is an honor, great elder." While bowing, she winked at Shampoo. Shampoo growled, while Mousse decided it would be best to go clean the kitchen for awhile and hastily walked off.

Cologne didn't seem to notice, or simply didn't care. "Yes, yes. Now while you are here, you will also spend some time working at the restaurant. Let me show you what your duties will be…"

* * *

"And that's the whole story," Ryouga finished, looking around to see what everyone's reactions would be. Yeah, right. Like they'd believe a word of it. It was very strange, even for them. 

"Well, weirder stuff has happened, I guess." Ranma replied. "So you're an alien, huh? Guess that explains why you're hanging around with Ryouga. No human would do something like that." Ranma then lost interest with the whole thing and was about to resume eating when he noticed that all the food was gone. "Hey…"

"Let me guess, two more freeloaders? I suppose you could stay in Ranma's room…" Nabiki began.

"NO WAY AM I LIVING WITH THAT PIG!" Both Ranma and Ryouga shouted, pointing at each other.

"I'm sure we could find our own place to stay at." Kenji interjected quietly, nervously glancing back and forth between Ryouga and Ranma.

"Hey…" Ranma tried again, a little louder than last time.

Akane then remembered something and turned to Kenji. "Kenji, was it? How did you and Ryouga just appear here like that? Can your people teleport?" This caused the alien to laugh. He then held up a little device that kind of looked like a high tech cigarette lighter.

"Oh no. This device can teleport me to wherever I want to go. I just give it the coordinates, and poof! I'm there. Since Ryouga has no idea where anything is, we just kept giving it coordinates until we found the dojo."

"Hey…" Ranma said again, getting more annoyed.

"So Ryouga, what are you going to do now?" Kasumi asked.

"Huh? Um, I really don't know. I was too busy trying to get back to Nerima to consider future plans."

"Well, the new school year is coming up. Why don't you enroll yourselves into Furinken High?" Kasumi pressed.

"I really don't think-" Ryouga started, before his hands were grabbed by Akane.

"Oh, you're enrolling, Ryouga? I'm so glad! I was disappointed when you said you wouldn't be able to, the last time." By this, Akane was referring to the time she tried to tutor Ryouga. She took it personally when he didn't succeed. She felt like a bad sensei, and a bad sensei wouldn't be good for their dojo. Of course, all this was lost on the fanged boy, who was currently mumbling incomprehensible sounds with a big goofy grin on his face.

"HEY!" Ranma shouted, finally losing his patience.

"WHAT?" Ryouga and Akane screamed at him, both annoyed but for different reasons. The lost boy looked ready to rip his arms off for ruining his moment with Akane. Akane was simply annoyed by his shouting.

Ranma pointed at the table, almost in tears. "All the food is ruined! Now what are we going to eat?" It was true. All the food was either on the floor, or smashed by Ryouga and Kenji falling on it. The only thing left standing was the big pot of whatever Akane had decided to make in the kitchen and pretend it was food.

"I suppose I'll have to order out." Nabiki sighed, reaching for the phone. She stopped when Akane slammed her hands onto the table.

"Hey! The food I made is still there. I'm sure I made it right this time. At least try it first!" Nabiki picked up the phone and started to dial a number. Akane sat back down, depressed. Kenji noticed this and wondered why no one wanted to try this girl's cooking. Yes, the food did look a little strange, but he was new to this planet so he expected some strange things. Kenji grabbed a nearby spoon and dipped it into the green mush, scooping out some of the stuff (Akane called it a casserole) and stuck it into his mouth. He then realized Akane, as well as everyone else in the room, was eyeing him to see his reaction. Nabiki stopped ordering food and proceeded to call an ambulance. Kenji just sat there motionless for about five seconds.

"Hey, this is pretty good! You Earthers can sure make some good stuff. Um, why is everyone staring at me?" He asked nervously, scooping out more of the mush from the pot and eating it.

"Can it be? Has my little girl been cured?" Soun dared to wonder, whispering to himself, in fear of causing whatever benevolent diety that had cured his daughter to take back this divine gift.

Ranma and Genma were more skeptical. No way could Akane make decent food. Then again, this new guy liked it. And they were pretty hungry. But everything Akane made could be used as biological weapons. They still had the check from the Japanese Defense Force as proof. An intense battle raged in their minds as logic vied with hunger. Of course, Ranma and Genma never were the most logical of people. They both dived on the pot and started eating voraciously. They immediately regretted it and ran for the bathroom, moaning pitifully.

"Well, at least someone likes it." Akane said, smiling to herself. Ryouga decided now was a good time to try to make the love of his life happy. With a determined look on his face, he grabbed a spoon. What was his life compared to her happiness? He ate a spoonful, and fighting down the instinct to throw it up, and gave her a nervous smile.

"It… it's r-really good… Akane-san…" he managed to get out, before falling unconscious. Nabiki shook her head with an amused smile. The poor fool. Having a thing for her little sister couldn't be very healthy.

* * *

"So, that's the one you like? Tendo Akane? She's cute enough, I guess. But why are you so hung up on her?" Kenji asked, sipping on a soda. He had to hand it to these Earthers. They certainly made good grub. He and Ryouga were currently wandering around town (with Kenji making sure the lost boy didn't live up to his name) wondering where they would stay. 

Ryouga sighed blissfully. "She was the first girl to ever really care for me. She took me in and adopted me without hesitation when I was in my pig form. There aren't many people that are so kind in this world. That's why I'm in love with her. But it angers me so much that she's wasted on that Saotome. All he does it insult her all day and run off to be with other girls."

"Heh, pretty ironic that your girl fell for your worst enemy. Hey, how about those apartments over there?" the alien pointed at some classy buildings in the distance.

"Way too expensive. Hmm, this is harder than I thought." Ryouga said in frustration. They had to stay in one area if Kenji had any hope of being rescued. Ryouga and a stationary life didn't mix well.

"What's harder than you thought, sugar?" asked a familiar voice from behind them. "and who's your friend?"

"Oh, hi Ukyo. This is Kiyomori Kenji. And it's a long story."

"Well, come to my restaurant, food's on the house. It's been awhile since I've heard a decent story and even longer since I've seen you."

* * *

"Why you really here?" Shampoo demanded, glaring at Lotion. The two had been relatively civil to each other all day, but Shampoo couldn't stand it anymore. That girl was up to something, and she knew it. She was here for more reasons than she had explained. 

"Shampoo, you should work on your Japanese. It's atrocious." Lotion replied simply, cleaning a table.

"Answer question!" Shampoo yelled, pulling out her bombori from Martial Arts Weapon Space®, or MAWS. Lotion did likewise with her battle axe and the two amazons glared at each other. Surprisingly, Mousse broke up the fight.

"Girls, please don't fight in the restaurant. You know what will happen if we wreck the place. That old crone will have our heads on the ends of pikes. And I'd rather not see either of you hurt…" Mousse added the last part in a whisper. Lotion lowered her weapon first, Shampoo following close after. The later walked away in a huff while Lotion simply glared at her.

"Mousse, I still don't know what you see in her." Lotion said, turning to her friend.

"Why can't we all be friends like when we were kids?" Mousses asked sadly. "We had so much fun together." He knew why, but he couldn't help but ask.

"That girl and I can never be friends again. Not after what happened."

* * *

"So you need a decent place to stay for virtually no money." Ukyo stated, amused. 

"Yeah, who'd have thought apartments were so expensive." Ryouga moaned and handed out his plate for okonomiyaki #8. Ukyo put another one on his plate and turned back to the grill.

"Well, I suppose I can let you two stay here. But you'll have help work in the restaurant to cover your rent."

"You'd really do that for us?" Ryouga asked with hope in his eyes.

"Sure, why not. And maybe we can come up with another breakup plan. This time we've got three people to work with." Ukyo replied mischievously, pointing at Kenji, who was currently gnawing on his twelfth okonomiyaki.

"We still have to enroll at Furinken, though."

"Oh, you two are going to school? This changes things. We'll have to make sure you and Akane get some alone time together. That'll leave me some opportunities to get with Ranchan." Ukyo said thoughtfully. Inwardly, she was cheering. 'Yes, this will be perfect! And Shampoo doesn't go to school, so she won't be in the way!'

* * *

"Shampoo, you are going to school, and that is final!" Cologne demanded. 

"Shampoo no want go to school. Shampoo warrior, not bookworm!" the young amazon retorted defiantly.

Cologne decided now was the time to play her trump card. Those three kids may be good warriors, but they were lacking in the way of knowledge. And who knows, maybe Shampoo will learn to speak proper Japanese. "You'll get to see son in law quite often should you attend Furinken High School."

"Okay, maybe not so bad after all."

"Good, you three will be attending starting tomorrow." Cologne smiled. She knew all it would take would be mentioning that Ranma was there and her great granddaughter would go. She had hopped she would go on her own though. Even amazons need an education.

* * *

"What's that thing?" Ukyo asked, pointing up at the roof. There looked like some kind of weird television antenna with blinking lights fixed to it.The three of them had spent the day getting Ryouga and Kenji's room ready, as well as cleaning up the place. It was now time for bed, but Ukyo couldn't find Kenji anywhere. Eventually, she had found him outside, staring at the strange device with a thoughtful expression. 

"Oh, that just sends a rescue signal to whoever would be happening to cruise through this solar system. You guys are fairly out of the way, so it might take a long time before someone gets the signal and bothers to check it out." the young alien answered, somewhat depressed. Earth wasn't bad. But he missed his home.

"Where is your home, anyway? You never mentioned it." Ukyo was curious about where he came from. It was still surprising to know that aliens existed and looked quite human. Kenji had mentioned that there were thousands of planets with humans living on them.

"Actually, you can see it from here. See those three stars there?" He pointed at the three stars that formed Orion's belt. "The star on the left is my home solar system. It's called Zeltennia. I live on the fourth planet in that system, Zeltennia IV."

"That's pretty cool. I wish I could travel around space like that. Well, it's time for bed, sugar. We've got school in the morning." The two of them walked inside and headed to their separate rooms to sleep. Kenji was staying with Ryouga in one of the storage rooms that they had cleared out a few hours ago. The lost boy was already passed out on his futon. Kenji laid down on his own futon and thought about home. "I hope someone comes soon..."

**

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

Well, that wraps up chapter 1. What'd you think? Please review so I know if I should stop now and quit while I'm ahead, or finish up the story. I don't know how long until I publish chapter two, but I'm going to start writing it as soon as I finish these author's notes. 


	2. School Is A Battlefield! Again!

AUTHOR: Ok Ryouga, just read the cards, ok?

RYOUGA: Sure thing. Ranma½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, and the author is just using the anime to write this fanfiction.

AUTHOR: Splendid! You can pick up your check in the accounting office.

RYOUGA: Okay, thanks. :walks off:

One hour later…

RYOUGA: Heh, heh… which way again?

AUTHOR: FOR THE THIRTY-SEVENTH TIME, IT'S ACROSS THE HALLWAY!

RYOUGA: Thanks. :walks off again, the wrong way:

* * *

**CHAPTER 2: School Is A Battlefield! (Again)**

* * *

Kuno sat cross-legged in his training hall, meditating. Contrary to popular belief, Kuno Tatewaki actually was capable of meditating. He just usually didn't have the attention span to do it for longer than a few seconds. However, this morning was different. Maybe it was because his battle aura was literally on fire and the phoenix egg that he had bought was glowing from its resting place on the altar behind him. 

Dramatically, Kuno slowly stood up, drawing forth his ancestral blade (the wooden sword he always carries around) and gave a battle cry. The bokken was instantly engulfed in flames, and a ring of fire circled the ground at his feet.

"At last! The Blue Thunder has mastered the art of the Phoenix Sword! Tremble all ye who would dare incur the Blue Thunder's wrath! On this day, this hour, the heavens rang out in one joyous voice, as their champion hath become… IMMORTAL! AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Master Kuno, you're going to be late for school."

"HAHAHAHA- erm, yes. Let us begin anew the quest for knowledge. Onward… TO SCHOOL!"

* * *

"Mister Kiyomori, are you paying attention?" the calculus teacher demanded. It was around noon, and the whole school was buzzing about the new transfer students. Ryouga, Kenji, Shampoo, Mousse, and Lotion had all enrolled earlier that morning. Fortunately, they had enrolled at different times and had been assigned to different classes, or half the school grounds would have looked like ground zero. At the moment, Kenji was in a math class, separate from the rest of the martial artists. The alien was bored out of his mind, and the teacher had apparently picked up on it. 

"Yes, sensei?" Kenji responded dully, continuing to stare out of the window.

"Maybe you could answer the problem on the board for the class."

Kenji glanced at the complex math problem on the board for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the clouds outside the window. "The answer is 703.45X sensei." The entire class gasped, for they knew that the alien wasn't paying the least bit of attention, along with most of the class.

"Okay, then how about this one?" the teacher said with a smirk, writing a problem that the class wasn't even supposed to know how to solve yet.

"67,407X-(72Y)9.578 sensei."

"And this one!"

"34.6."

The math teacher was visibly shaking now. Ok, if this kid wanted to be a smartass, then he would get what he deserved. The teacher erased everything on the board and then began to furiously scribble down the most complex math problem he had ever seen in his life. He had spent the last three years of his life trying to solve it and wasn't anywhere close to doing it. Sweat beaded on his brow as he filled the entire board with variables, numbers, and even a few weird symbols that seemed new to the mathematical world. Breathing heavily, he turned around and grinned at Kenji. "Please come to the board and solve the problem in front of the class."

Kenji calmly walked to the board and examined the equation for a few seconds. He then grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote a big zero upon it before turning to gaze at his math teacher expectantly.The teacher examined the equation, then the answer for a few seconds, and checked to see if it was right. The answer was actually absolutely correct. The math teacher suddenly ran screaming from the room, ripping out his hair as he raced down the hallway. Kenji turned to the rest of the class, who were staring at him, open-mouthed. "Um, I guess this means we can leave, right?"

* * *

Lunchtime found Ranma, Akane, Ukyou, Ryouga, and Kenji resting around a large tree, talking about how the day had been. All were wearing school uniforms except for Ranma. (Ryouga was still wearing his bandanna, of course) However, Ryouga and Kenji were too busy devouring their okonomiyaki to pay much attention to the conversation that the other three were having. 

"So you're staying at Ukyou's place, huh? Well, that's pretty convenient. All the free food you want and Ukyou can show you how to get to school everyday without you ending up in Siberia before first period." Ranma mused, causing a small growl from Ryouga and a frown from Akane.

"Thank you for taking them in, Ukyou. It was really nice of you." Akane smiled.

"No problem sugar. Honestly, I really needed some help at the restaurant. Konatsu's still on vacation, and I needed a cheap source of labor. It was a blessing that I ran into them." Suddenly, curiosity struck the spatula girl and she turned to Kenji. "Hey, you never said what you used to do back at your home."

The alien looked up from his okonomiyaki, startled. "Me? Well, I teach martial arts at my family's dojo. The Kiyomori School is fairly famous back home. We specialize in the manipulation of chi energy and illusionary tactics."

Ranma sighed to himself. "Another martial artist, why am I not surprised? Still, maybe you've got some moves. We gotta spar sometime." The pigtailed martial artist would've taken the opportunity to brag about his skill and assure that no one could come close to him, but unfortunately he suddenly found a purple haired amazon wearing a girl's school uniform attached to his chest. "Sh-shampoo! What are you doing here?"

"Aiyah! Shampoo come to see Airen. Great grandmother make us go to school now. Now Shampoo be with Airen at school all day!" Shampoo purred, snuggling into Ranma. Neither noticed Akane pull out her mallet from MAWS® and begin to slowly approach them, twitching in anger.

Ukyou, who HAD noticed, decided to interject. "Us? So you mean Mousse is here too?"

Her answer came in the form of being glomped by the blind amazon boy who was wearing a boy's school uniform. "Shampoo! Why did you run off and leave me alone? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Ukyou pried him off using her battle spatula. "Use your glasses, jackass. Why did the old crone make you go to school all of a sudden? She didn't seem to care about your education before."

"Shampoo no know. Ever since Lotion come-" Shampoo's reply was cut off as her head was used as a springboard for everyone's favorite old lecher.

"Yahoo! What a haul! What a haul! And what a lovely bra you were wearing, Shampoo. You amazons really know your stuff. See you later, kids!" And with that Happosai bounded off, waving around his newfound undergarment, chased by half the female population of Furinken High.

Shampoo stared in confusion at the old man for a second, and then noticed something. "Shampoo feel… drafty. Wait minute… OLD MAN COME BACK AND DIE! SHAMPOO KILL!" The amazon bared her bombori and joined the growing angry mob.

Happosai didn't get far. Suddenly he ran into a pink haired female student, who for some reason was carrying a large battle axe around. "Oh, and what do we have here? Let me introduce myself!" The old lecher leaped for her chest but instead was introduced to her battle axe as she used it as a baseball bat and slammed the flat side of it into the old man, launching off into the horizon.

"Heh, old pervert. That'l teach you." Suddenly Lotion was hoisted into the air and carried off by cheering schoolgirls. "Wait, what are you doing? Put me down!" Her protests were still heard long after she was carried out of view.

The entire event was watched by Ranma and Co. The pigtailed boy was impressed. That girl had strength matching gorilla-girl Akane. "Who was that girl?" he wondered aloud.

Surprisingly enough, Mousse answered him. "Oh, that's Lotion. She's a friend from back in the village and is staying with us for awhile at the Nekohanten."

Ukyou sighed. "Great, just what we need. Another amazon running around. Let's just hope no one is dumb enough to beat her up. Well, lunchtime's almost over. Common Ryouga. I'd better walk you to your next class before it starts." The chef and lost boy left, and soon after everyone else did as well.

* * *

On their way to their next class, Akane was struck by an idea. Ryouga was a good friend, but he seemed depressed all the time. Maybe if he had someone to care for him, he might be a little more cheerful. And now that Ukyou had let him live with her for awhile, maybe she could work something out between the two. "Hey Ranma, I've got an idea." 

"Hmm, what's that?"

"Have you noticed that Ukyou is being awfully nice to Ryouga lately? She even let him live with her. Wouldn't it be nice if-"

"Oh no. We've done this before Akane. Ryouga and Ukyuo ain't interested in each other."

"Yes, but what if we GOT them interested in each other? They're living together. I'm sure we could work something up."

Ranma thought about this. Ryouga and Ukyou. Ukyou and Ryouga. Either way, that wasn't half bad. Pig boy would finally stop hounding him about Akane, and maybe they could even be civil to each other. Though it was rare that two boys got along, the few times that they did, Ranma enjoyed it. Neither would admit it, but they were the closest things to friends that either of them had. Yeah, a peaceful Ryouga was certainly a plus. It'd solve one of the fiancée problems too. Ranma didn't have much stock in one of Akane's match up plans, but the rewards were just too good to pass up. "Yeah, we'll think of something."

* * *

Shampoo has having a lot of trouble in Japanese class, much to the enjoyment of Lotion. The teacher had been correcting everything she had said all class period. The young amazon was reaching her breaking point. "Shampoo hate school. Is too, too, difficult!" 

"No, Shampoo." The teacher corrected. "It should be, I hate school. It is too difficult. Now try again." However, Shampoo had had enough. She simply crossed her arms and glared back at the teacher defiantly.

Lotion couldn't help herself. "What's the matter, Shampoo? Cat got your tongue?"

That was the last straw for Shampoo. She had taken more than she could stand. Standing up and getting into a fighting stance, she glared at Lotion. "You pay for that one!"

Lotion was all too eager to give the fight that Shampoo was picking. "All right girl, step outside!" Ignoring their protesting teacher, the two girls jumped out of the third story window, landing in the soccer field below. Needless to say, the entire school was soon sitting on the bleachers as the two girls began the match.

Kenji turned to Ranma and Akane, who were sitting next to him. "Um, I'm new to this school system, but aren't we supposed to be learning stuff? Why's everyone watching those two girls fight?"

After buying some popcorn from a nearby vendor, Ranma answered. "This is Furinken High. We always interrupt learnin' for more the important stuff, like martial arts matches. Especially when the match involves a new student. You shoulda' seen what it was like when me an' pig boy first squared off."

Down on the field, the two amazons faced each other, weapons barred. Shampoo started things off by rushing forward and unleashing a lighting fast assault with her bombori. Unfortunately, her opponent had a rock solid defense, and spinning her battle axe like staff, easily parried all of the blows. Lotion countered by sweeping low with her axe, causing Shampoo to leap up into the air to avoid it, which was followed by a roundhouse kick to the purple haired amazon's gut, causing her to fly back several meters before doing a midair flip and landing on her feet.

"You pretty good, but no beat Shampoo!" Shampoo boasted, while internally thinking a way to take her opponent down. The problem was obviously the battle axe. With it, Lotion could block anything that Shampoo threw at her. Wait, threw… It just might work. Suddenly the purple haired amazon hurled both of her bombori at Lotion and charged.

The pink haired amazon instinctively deflecting the thrown weapons, just as Shampoo had expected. Taking out her sword, she dashed forward and savagely smashed the edge of her blade against the haft of Lotion's axe while the later amazon was still in the position of deflecting. Unfortunately, the axe had a wooden haft.

Akane was impressed. Shampoo hadn't shown this much strategy in a fight before, especially when she was really angry. "Looks like Shampoo's going to win. She's still got her sword while Lotion is barehanded." The youngest Tendo was rather disappointed by this. She had hopped that Shampoo would get her butt kicked.

Shampoo was also confident that the fight was over. Standing with her sword pointed at her opponent's throat, she grinned. "Shampoo win."

Lotion, however, had other things in mind. With a lighting fast kick to Shampoo's hand, she successfully disarmed her opponent. "How dare you break my axe!" And with that, she dove onto Shampoo and the two degenerated into a normal female fight, with much clawing, yelling, and pulling of hair.

Sometimes, Nerima had the tendency to have sudden rainfall, and now was one of those times. Fortunately, the students had prepared for this, and all had brought umbrellas. Unfortunately, the two amazons didn't have such foresight. Both of them disappeared into their school uniforms, and a few seconds later, two small forms escaped from said uniforms and fled.

"Well, that was unexpected." Ranma said, finishing the last of his popcorn. "I wonder what curse Lotion has." The students of Furinken High, cheated of a good end to the match, started to walk off.

* * *

Ranma checked left. The runner was leading off, but didn't look like he'd make a break for it. He checked right, noting the sizeable lead, but not enough to catch the runner off guard. He then looked forward. It was bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded. Ranma's team was barely winning, 14 to 13. Everything was riding on this pitch. Daisuke gave him the signal. 'Pour on the heat? Heh, fine with me!' "Yo Kuno, you ready for this?" 

Standing on the plate, Tatewaki Kuno pointed his bat at Ranma. "Do thy worst, foul sorcerer. None can break the guard of the Blue Thunder! I shall smite thy ball and achieve victory for the honor of my beloved Pigtailed Girl!" Kuno then assumed his battle stance, the bat held like his trusty bokken.

"Gee Kuno, I just asked if you were ready. Anything Goes Martial Arts Baseball Ultimate Technique: Heat Sinker!" Ranma charged up his battle aura, and let fly a ball that seemed to actually teleport to the catcher. However, the kendoist swung his bat, and to the amazement of the pigtailed boy, managed to send the ball flying. Ranma watched helplessly as the ball sailed high over 2nd base, clearly a homerun in a few seconds. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light high over the fence, and Kenji appeared right in the baseball's line of departure. Extending his glove, he caught the ball and then fell towards the ground, landing on his feet. Grinning, he held up the ball.

"OUT! And that's the game. Victory to the blue shirts." yelled the gym coach.

Watching Ranma's team walk off cheering, Akane slowly shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe the gym teacher counted that."

"Believe it." Nabiki smirked beside her, also watching. "Now, pay up."

The youngest Tendo started to dig out some yen.

* * *

Ryouga watched his geography teacher run away screaming out of the room to join another teacher who had apparently ripped all of his hair out and the two of them proceeded to run screaming up and down the halls, causing much property damage. 

Ryouga sighed. Maybe school really wasn't for him. Heck, he couldn't even find his way to class without help. The only subject he was good at were the foreign languages because he happened to know roughly 80 percent of the world's languages. He couldn't even concentrate enough to actually learn something. Maybe it was time to just… get lost.

Sitting next to him, Akane was the first to notice the green aura slowly coming to life around the lost boy. Guessing what it was about, she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Ryouga. Not everyone is good at geography. You know what, I'll help you study. Just cheer up, okay?" she gave him a friendly smile, hoping to cheer him up before they needed a new geography classroom.

Ryouga was moved to tears. He simply nodded to her, not trusting himself enough to speak. Akane was too good to him. Like a beacon of hope in a dark fog, she lit up his world. One day. One day he would make himself worthy of such kindness. One day he would be able to tell her how he felt. One day he would beat Ranma and make him pay for treating her like garbage. One day he-

"Ryouga, are you listening to me?" Akane asked, for the third time.

"Huh? Yes, Akane-san?" Ryouga asked, griping his desk so hard that it started to crack.

"Is it ok if I come by tomorrow after school to help you study?"

"YES! I mean, uh, sure it is." Ryouga's grip tightened even more and shattered the entire table section of his desk.

"Good. Well, I have to get to my next class. I'll see you later at Ucchans." Akane waved goodbye and left the room, leaving Ryouga in the room by himself. The rest of the class had left right after the teacher did.

Ryouga had one thing on his mind. Akane had asked to spend time with him. Akane had WANTED to spend time with him. Him. Hibiki Ryouga. She would be coming tomorrow, right after school, and then they'd be together! Ryouga's mind decided that it had had enough excitement for the day and simply shut down. The lost boy missed his next class as he was too busy slumped in a broken desk in a dark, empty classroom, staring at the ceiling with a big grin on his face.

* * *

On the way home, Ranma was confused. Which was quite normal, but he was still confused nonetheless. Kuno had yet to attack him all day. He couldn't recall a single day where this had not happened. Usually, the Blue Blunder challenged him in the morning. Fortunately, Kuno was late to school that morning and they manage to get into class without running into him. Still it was unlike Kuno to not bug him at least once during the day. Oh well, why look a gift horse in the mouth? Ranma would just simply enjoy his Kuno-free day. 

Akane noticed something seemed different with Ranma and wondered what it was. "Hey, what's with you?" Akane always used the 'direct' route when she wanted some information. She simply asked.

"Well, I've noticed that Kuno hasn't bugged me at all today. I was kinda enjoying it, you know? This don't happen everyday." Too bad the day decided that there needed to be some irony, right about…

"HOLD! Saotome Ranma, today is the day that Tatewaki Kuno smites thee for the good of all! Prepare to face the wrath of the Phoenix Sword!"

Ranma groaned. He just HAD to open his big fat mouth. Well, might as well get this over with. He turned around and assumed a defensive stance. "I figured you couldn't go a day without botherin me Kuno. Hurry this up. I don't got all day to mess with you."

Kuno wasted no time in igniting his bokken, as well as his battle aura. Ranma was surprised at the change and had no time to adjust as Kuno rushed forward with a battle cry. The Blue Thunder opened things up with his patented flurry of thrusts, this time accented with sparks of flame.

As usual, Ranma dodged every one of them effortlessly, however the flames got a little too close for his liking. He needed to finish this quickly before he got burned. Kuno may have a new trick, but he was still Kuno. One good assault should wrap things up. Ranma got down to business by unleashing several hundred blows to Kuno's gut using the amaguriken technique, then followed up with a roundhouse kick straight to the kendoist's temple, knocking his opponent back several meters. Before Kuno could hit the ground however, he took a moko takabisha in the chest. Kuno flew into the side of a building and slid to the ground, motionless. Ranma smirked to himself. 'Heh, I've still got the touch.'

However, much to the dismay of the pigtailed boy, Kuno's battle aura flared to life again as he stood back up. "Just as the mighty phoenix is reborn, I too am revived! Thy evil magic cannot defeat the Phoenix Sword!" And to backup his point, Kuno swung his sword in a wide arc, unleashing a jet of flames in the shape of the phoenix that Ranma and Co. had delt with some time ago. (the ugly bird that had used Kuno's head as a nest) "Taste my wrath, cur!"

Ranma let forth another moko takabisha to meet the phoenix flames head on. Unfortunately the flames tore right through the chi blast, un-phased. Ranma dived out of the way to avoid being hit by the flaming chi. Using the umisen-ken technique, Ranma slipped out of view and maneuvered around for a sneak attack against the Blue Thunder.

Kuno did not take this well. "What sorcery is this? Show yourself, Saotome!" Kuno charged up his battle aura and unleased another flurry of thrusts, turning as he did so. Each thrust sent out a small jet of flames.

Of course, by this time the local residents of Nerima had showed up to watch the light show. Kuno had some new tricks and they were watching to see how Ranma would deal with it. They were not disappointed.

Ranma slipped into existence behind Kuno, chi blast in hand. He then proceeded to slam it into the back of Kuno's head, knocking him to the ground. Before he could follow up on the the attack, a pillar of flames erupted from the fallen kedoist, knocking Ranma back. Kuno lept to his feet and pointed his bokken at Ranma. "Your underhanded tricks will not work on the great Tatewaki Kuno! NOW, PERISH!" The kendoist then proceeded to send unending jets of flame at Ranma, who could do nothing but run around, trying to avoid them.

Ranma felt humiliated, running away from Kuno. He couldn't believe he was unable to beat this overgrown windbag who was spewing nothing but a massive amount of hot air. Wait, hot air... Ranma would've slapped himself if he wasn't busy dodging a bunch of flames. It was so simple.

"Hey Kuno, guess what I did with Akane last night! I used my evil sorcery to make her do whatever I pleased. WHATEVER I pleased, heh." Ranma yelled. Now all he had to do was wait for the fool to unleash another one of those big flame blasts.

"YOU DID WHAT?" Akane screamed from the sidelines, barely able to control her anger.

"You vile scoundrel! How dare you have your way with Tendo Akane. I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Kuno raged, sending a phoenix shaped blast at Ranma, even bigger than the first one.

"Sucker." Ranma smiled and moved his fist in a vertical spiral. As soon as the phoenix blast came near he thrust his fist forward. "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!" The phoenix blast seemed to squawk in dismay as it was transformed into a horizontal whirlwind that smashed into Kuno, sending him off into the distance. Ranma stretched his arms behind his head with a smug look on his face, basking the applause of the audience... until his fiancée grabbed his ear and dragged him off.

"Let's go, Ranma. You can be pleased with yourself back at home."

* * *

"Shampoo, Lotion, come outside. It is time for the next step in your training." 

The two young amazons walked to the backyard behind the Nekohanten where Cologne was waiting. "You called, Elder?" Lotion asked, curious.

Cologne hopped off of her staff and pointed it at them. "You may or may not have heard of the school of the four elemental styles of martial arts. They were developed in China several thousand years ago by a great monk of Shaolin. Today you will each learn single style. Shampoo shall learn the Water Style, and Lotion will learn the Fire Style. The Water Style stresses solid defense, with fluid and powerful counterattacks. The Fire Style is the opposite. It stresses overwhelming, unpredictable offense in order to shatter an opponent's guard."

Shampoo and Lotion each seemed unsure about their particular style. The amazon matriarch knew the reason for this.

"I am teaching you these schools for two reasons." Cologne continued. "First is to master your weaknesses. Shampoo, you are very attack-oriented in your combat, and must learn restraint. Lotion, you never move away from the safety of your defensive stance, and must learn to pursue an opponent. The second reason I am teaching you this is to compliment your weapon styles. You must learn to fight as well, if not better, unarmed than if you were armed."

Cologne smiled to herself. Now was the fun part. Well, for her anyway. "In order to understand, you must observe. Both of you attack me and witness the techniques in which you will learn."

Down the street from the Cat Café, people stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction from where they heard twin cries of pain.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Yes, yes. I know. The whole point of the story is to get Ryouga to have a chance with Akane. Well, I'm gettin' to it! Seriously though, I had to lay the groundwork down before I could build on it and start messing with the characters. Chapter Three is when things start to get interesting, and hilarious, if I manage to do it right. Thank you everyone who reviewed. And as my token of appreciation, I will acknowledge you all in each chapter if you review. 

Ryo-chan wolfgirl: Well here you are, my dear. A brand spankin new chapter!

katanbuilder3: Than you, and now that I know this story doesn't suck, I won't.

MalignantUser: Yeah, everyone should love Ryoga. He is, without a doubt, da' man!

Lord Kamui: I hope this was quick enough.

I have absolutely no idea when the next chapter is going to come out for several reasons. First, it's finals week at my college and I need to study. Second, I'm still working on programming my game _Silver Dream_, which will always take priority over anything my wretched mind decides to regurgitate to the outside world. And third, it seems that Chrono Trigger (Bless you Squaresoft! Bless you!) has claimed my soul yet again. HOWEVER, after reading your reviews, this story has moved way up in the totem pole, and I'll try to get chapter three out ASAP, so stay tuned!


	3. Messing With Destiny, Hibiki Style!

AUTHOR: Ok Nabiki, hit it.

NABIKI: Ranma½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, not the author.

AUTHOR: Perfect performance.

NABIKI: Easy money. Oh, and there's something I need to blackmail, I mean talk to you about.

AUTHOR: HA! I've got nothing you can use against me!

NABIKI: So these photos of you walking around with a Sasami keychain on your backpack in high school don't mean anything to you.

AUTHOR: How'd you get those?

NABIKI: And you wouldn't care that it got out that an 18 year old guy walked around with a keychain of a little girl on his backpack.

AUTHOR:in tears: But she's my favorite character!

NABIKI: Uh, huh. Well, it'll cost you about 10 grand to keep my silence about your choice of backpack accessories.

AUTHOR: This is wrong. I'm just a poor college student…

**

* * *

CHAPTER 3: Messing With Destiny, Hibiki Style!**

* * *

"Ok Luck, what the hell are you doing? You are messing with the fate of the world!" When the god Luck decided to help out Ryouga, he was indeed messing with people's fate, as well as changing a few destinies around. And he happened to have two elder brothers called Fate and Destiny. Needless to say, they were not pleased. 

"This is also not the first universe that you have altered, little brother. Urashima Keitaro and Narusegawa Naru were fated to be with one another, but you screwed it up!"

"Oh, common. That girl was BIPOLAR! Mutsumi was a much better match for the Urashima kid."

"And what of the Masaki boy? There were no faults with Ryoko and Ayeka."

"Yeah, but how cool was it that Ayeka's little sister suddenly turned into a teenage goddess! You gotta keep the people guessing!"

"ENOUGH! Hibiki Ryouga and Tendo Akane were never meant to be. You know that. And what's the deal with making the Kiyomori boy crash-land on a populated, undeveloped planet like that? Chuck Norris' destiny was supposed to be the first Earthling to come in contact with aliens. Now it's Hibiki Ryouga!. HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?"

"Not really, no. But I know that you can't stop me now that things are in motion. Now, I have other matters to attend to. The final round of the world championship of poker is tonight. Farewell." And with that, Luck left his brothers' company.

However, Destiny had other things in mind as he gazed down on a cute looking girl walking next to an enormous pig. "We shall see about that, little brother. We shall see."

* * *

Ryouga and Kenji were walking home together, talking about Ryouga's big day today. Akane was coming over, and this was the perfect opportunity to score some points for the home team. Kenji looked up, thoughtfully. "Ok, you really want my advice? Well, I have a few things to offer you. First, end the feud with Ranma and at least TRY to get along with him." As expected, his friend grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" the lost boy shrieked. "NO WAY IN HELL! THAT BASTARD-"

"Ruined your life?" Kenji cut in, his eyes closed, seeking patience for dealing with his raving friend. "Ryouga, I agree with you that it does suck to be turned into a little pig every time it rains. However, do you REALLY think that Akane actually enjoys you fighting with Ranma all the time? Be honest now."

Ryouga let his friend go and sighed. "I guess you're right. But I can't just say, 'Hey Ranma, I forgive you. Lets be friends!' "

"I'm not asking you to. Here's the deal. Next time you see Ranma, challenge him to a match set one week from whenever you happen to meet up with him. You will then train like mad for the match, and hopefully beat him. Still, win lose or draw, it ends. It is officially over."

Ryouga nodded. "Ok, I can live with that. I just need to be on top of my game."

The chi master smiled. "Don't worry. I'll teach you some tricks to use. It might help. My next bit of advice is to find any way you possibly can to spend time with Akane, and actually TALK to her. Don't just mumble nervously or proclaim your love. Pretend you're just hanging out with a friend. Once you know each other very well, then you can move on to more intimate things."

The lost boy considered this. "Hmm, I'll try. But how would I actually accomplish that? Every time I get to spend time with Akane, Ranma or someone else comes in and ruins it." Ryouga grit his teeth at this. Ranma would never leave them alone. If the jerk disliked 'the uncute tomboy' then why was he always in the way? 'That bastard is in love with her and he doesn't even know it.' Great, another thing to be angry at Ranma about. Ryouga seriously doubted that this whole 'getting along' thing would actually work.

Kenji whipped out a package from nowhere and passed it to Ryouga. "Here, this should help you with that. They're tickets to the fair, and some spending cash. And don't worry about outside influences. Me and Ukyoo will be there for damage control. Actually, the whole thing was her idea."

Ryouga was confused. He and his friend didn't have much money. "How'd you afford this? We don't have any money."

His friend snickered. "Heh, my teleporter also has a duplication function. I just duplicated some yen, and then bought the tickets with some of it."

"That's illegal! And wrong. I can't accept this."

"Oh common Ryouga! I promise I won't do it again. Are you gonna let this ruin your chance at happiness with Akane?" Kenji smiled. He knew all the right buttons to press with the lost boy.

Ryouga struggled internally. Eventually an image of a smiling Akane entered his mind and he just couldn't stand it. "Ok, just this once. But don't you EVER duplicate yen again! And please kami-samma, don't let Nabiki ever find out about that thing."

* * *

Strolling through the Nerima district, Unryu Akari was at a loss of what to do. The dying wish of her grandfather (ok, he wasn't REALLY dying, but… y'know.) was to find a suitable husband to take care of the Unryu Sumo Pig Farm. That in itself would've been fine, as Akari happened to be blessed with extreme cuteness and there were plenty of boys who would love to hook up with her. But pretty girls who had ties to fortune always came with a catch, and the Unryu girl was no exception. A suitable husband meant a boy who was capable of besting her pet pig in combat. Too bad the Unryu idea of a pet was a giant behemoth in the disguise of a pig. Akari patted the beast walking next to her. "Katsunishiki, you're just too strong. What am I going to do…" 

Katsunishiki swelled with pride at the compliment and snorted happily. It'd take more than the wimps they had run into before to beat him. He was the best damn sumo pig on the farm! Suddenly, sensing worthy opponents nearby, the giant pig let out a grunt and charged off, his mistress running to catch up. "KATSUNISHIKI, NOOOOOO! NOT AGAIN!"

* * *

"I'm telling ya man, it's in the bag. Just work up the nerve to ask Akane out, and we'll take care of the rest." Kenji said confidently, walking with his arms resting behind his head. 

"I know, but you're new here. Plans just don't seem to work very well around here. They always backfire. Always. I'll do my best, but I'm still worried."

"And I'm telling you to NOT worry. Me and… hey, do you hear that?"

The lost boy looked around, he could've sworn he heard thunder, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. A few seconds later, the thunder grew louder and the ground started to shake. People looked around in panic, fearing an earthquake, when suddenly the side of a building exploded outward and something out of Ryouga's nightmares charged straight for the two martial artists. It was a pig, but it was huge. It was gigantic. It was colossal. It defined the words 'Big Pig'.

It was also causing a big ruckus, and must be stopped before someone got hurt. The lost boy unsheathed his umbrella from its resting place on his backpack and got into a baseball batter's stance, ready to hit a homerun. "Ok, Mr. Pig! Show me what you got!"

Katsunishiki roared back in reply and charged blindly into the lost boy. The onlookers gasped at what they saw as a very cruel way to die. They gasped again at the sound of umbrella smashing against skull and seeing the giant pig fly into another building, completely destroying it.

However, Katsunishiki was far from beaten. Pulling himself out of the rubble of the destroyed building, he slowly walked towards Ryouga, stopping a few meters away. The giant pig then stomped his left two feet and then the right two ones as a clear sign that the challenge had been given.

Ryouga looked over the pig and nodded, before taking off his backpack and putting down his umbrella. "You wanna test your strength against mine, eh? Let's dance!" Katsunishiki charged again and Ryouga charged as well, both opponents yelling out a battle cry.

Akari looked on from the far side of the street, rocking back and forth on her heels in anticipation. "Oh kami-samma, I hope he doesn't kill that boy." She felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Kenji smiled down at the girl. "Hey, Hibiki Ryouga is as tough as they come. I'd be more worried for the pig. Wow, I never knew pigs grew that large. It's a monster!"

The Unryu girl swelled with pride. "At the Unryu farm, we raise sumo pigs. They're all much larger than regular pigs because of the care we give to each of them. Katsunishiki there is the strongest of them all. The only problem is that he runs off whenever he senses worthy opponents nearby."

The alien raised an eyebrow at this. "Worthy opponents?"

Akari blushed and looked down. "Well, I'm supposed to go find a suitable husband to take care of the farm, but grandfather says he has to be able to beat Katsunishiki. I hope your friend is as strong as you say he is, for his sake and… mine." The girl then burst into a fit of giggles as Kenji paled.

"Oh no, if Ryouga beats up the pig, then… RYOUGA IF YOU LOVE AKANE, DO NOT BEAT THAT PIG!"

Several buildings were destroyed as the battle raged between boy and pig, neither fighter willing to back down. Eventually Ryouga gained the upper hand, grabbing the giant pig and proceeded to do one of those ridiculously high jumps with lots of air time reserved for martial artists.

Halfway into the jump, Ryouga threw Katsunishiki to the ground, while still sailing upwards. The pig hit the ground hard, dazed for a vital few seconds. Once the lost boy began to fall back towards earth, he glared at the pig, a shishihokodan forming in his hands. "Time to end this!" That's when he heard it.

"RYOUGA IF YOU LOVE AKANE, DO NOT BEAT THAT PIG!"

Confused, he turned to look down at his friend, who was standing next to a girl. Ryouga dissipated the chi blast while still falling towards the ground. That didn't make sense. Of course he loved Akane, but what did she have to do with a giant rampaging pig? Ryouga's mind took some time to ponder this.

Katsunishiki recovered from his daze and saw the confused bandanna clad boy falling towards him, his back facing the giant pig. How dare he turn his back in a fight! Even a pig has his pride. With an indignant snort, Akari's pet head butted Ryouga off into the distance.

Kenji was relieved when he saw that Ryouga had stopped fighting but once again became alarmed as his friend was sent off into the distance. "Oh no, he's gonna get lost! Ok, think. With that direction and trajectory, he should land…" the alien then took out his teleporter and pressed a few buttons. A second later he was gone.

Akari sighed. It looked for sure that the boy was going to win. Too bad he got distracted by his friend shouting at him. Well, maybe next time. The girl then walked over to her pet pig. "Katsunishiki, are you ok? That was some battle!" she then noticed someone clear their throat behind her.

The police officer whipped out a notepad and began to tally up the damage costs. "Excuse me miss. This is your pig correct? How do you plan on compensating for all the property that it destroyed?"

"Oh, dear…"

* * *

Kenji found Ryouga lying in an impact crater, mumbling to himself with a dazed look on his face. The alien helped his friend up. "Hey, you ok?" 

Ryouga thenfrowned at Kenji as if noticing him for the first time. "Hey, what's the deal with you telling me to lose the fight, huh? I had the pig right where I wanted it! Well, let's hear it!"

Kenji told him.

Ryouga hugged his alien friend. "Oh kami-samma! I almost got engaged! Thanks buddy. You saved my bacon, no pun intended."

Kenji grinned and nudged Ryouga in the side. "Hey, she's kinda cute. And I think she likes you, she was hoping you'd win the fight. It's not too late to change your mind, y'know."

"That's not funny!"

The two boys walked into Ucchans and received an annoyed look by two waiting girls. Ukyou was the first to speak. "And just where have you two been? Off fooling around, I bet! And you had forgotten that Akane was coming over today! No excuses, Ryouga go have fun with Akane while Kenji cleans the dishes from the after school crowd."

"What! Aww, no fair Ukyou..." The chi master sulked.

"I don't want to hear it, mister! YOU were the one who was supposed to make sure Ryouga got home on time."

"But…"

Ryouga and Akane decided it was best to leave the two arguing teens alone and headed upstairs to the room that Ryouga and Kenji shared. The two entered and Akane closed the door behind them. "Well Ryoga," Akane smiled. "You ready?"

Ryouga simply nodded, his higher bodily functions already shutting down one by one.

Back downstairs, Kenji and Ukyou were chatting to each other while performing the required chores to run a restaurant. "So Ryouga almost got engaged? That would've ruined everything! Leave it to him to almost ruin a perfect plan. I tell ya, I don't know how many times he's messed up one of our plans. Usually, it's not his fault alone, but the time at the Cave of Lost Love really pissed me off."

Kenji looked up from the dishes. "Cave of Lost Love? That doesn't sound very nice. Why would anyone want to go there?"

"It was me and Shampoo's idea. We brought Akane and Ranchan there to break them up. But of course Ryouga has to show up and run off with Akane. Somehow it ended up where everyone thought that WE were the one dating each other!"

Kenji laughed hard at that one, almost dropping the plate he was currently washing. "You and Ryouga? Man, that's rich!"

Ukyou glared at him, arms crossed. "What? You think I'm not good enough for that idiot?"

"No, you're cute and all. It just doesn't seem that you two would be good together." Kenji's attention went back to the washing of dishes and he didn't notice the slight blush on the okonomiyaki chef's cheeks, or the awkward silence that followed.

Upstairs, things were going good for Ryouga. He was finally able to form coherent words, and the two were getting some serious studying done.

"So Paris is just south of Okinawa?"

Too bad he still was hopeless with geography.

"No silly. Paris is in Europe."

"Yeah. Isn't Europe south of Japan?"

"Eh, let's move on to hemispheres. There's a north hemisphere, south hemisphere, east hemisphere, and west hemisphere. Which two do we live in?"

Ryouga's mind screamed at him. Argh! What the heck are you doing, fool! Ask her out! NOW! 'But what if she says no? She'll start avoiding me and-' Quit thinking that way! You wanna lose her heart to Saotome? 'HELL NO!' Atta boy, now do what needs to be done.

"Um Ryouga, are you feeling ok?" Akane asked worriedly, staring at the lost boy who was currently crouching in the corner, holding his head in his hands. Ryouga looked up at her with fire in his eyes. "Ryouga, you're scarring me…"

The lost boy grabbed her hands and looked at her with determination. "Akane-san…"

Relieved that he was ok, Akane smiled. "Yes Ryouga-kun, what is it?"

Fire was replaced with fear as Ryouga dropped her hands and started to fumble with his own. "Uh, uh… akanewillyougotothefairwithmeyoudonthavetoandifyoudontwanttoIunderstand."

The Tendo girl raised an eyebrow. "Um, run that by me again."

Ryouga calmed himself down. Everything was riding on him doing this. He had to do this. If he didn't… The lost boy looked up at the love of his life. "Akane, will you go to the fair with me on Saturday?"

Akane was surprised. This wasn't what she thought he was going to ask her. Then she thought about it. She wasn't doing anything that day, and it would be nice to get away from Ranma's insults for a bit. Heck, why not? "Sure. Come to my house at seven, ok?"

Ryouga couldn't respond as his brain had shut down to hold a grand party in his mind the second Akane had said 'Sure'. Conscience started break dancing, and sub-conscience started singing karaoke while the brain cells started up a conga line. Before it shut down, Ryouga's mind had remembered to put a stupid looking grin on his face.

Akane tried waving a hand in his face again, "Hey Ryouga! Earth to Hibiki Ryouga!" When she realized that he wasn't going to snap out of it anytime soon, she decided that it really was getting late and she should head home.

Humming a tune to herself, Akane walked downstairs into the restaurant, and then out the door. Kenji and Ukyou turned to look at each other. "You think that he managed to…"

The moment the Tendo girl closed the door behind her, they heard a loud THUD from upstairs. Wordlessly, they ran upstairs into Ryouga's room and found the lost boy lying on the floor, big goofy grin still on his face. The alien walked forward and nudged Ryouga with his foot.

The Hibiki boy started to laugh. "Eh, heh... Haha... WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Alien and chef turned to grin at each other. "So it begins."

* * *

"I'm home!" Akane called, entering the house. 

Kasumi greeted her at the door. "Welcome home Akane, did you have fun at Ukyou's?"

"Uh-huh, me and Ryouga got some good study time in. He's getting a lot better now. This time he knew what two hemispheres we live in" Akane beamed. Ha! She made a great sensei! The dojo was in good hands.

Ranma showed up, mouth full of whatever he had found in the kitchen. Swallowing it, he waved to get her attention. "Yo Akane, Pop and Mr. Tendo want us to go on another trainin trip this weekend, 'kay?"

Akane nervously shuffled her feet. "Um, I've got plans this weekend. We'll have to go some other time."

"Huh, what plans? You entering the tomboy of the year contest, or somethin?"

WHAM

Removing her mallet from her fiancée's skull, Akane started to angrily walk to her room. "Baka. Who asked you!"

Ranma got up and grumbled. "Stupid Akane, didn't have to go and hit me like that…" He knew that if he was ever going to find out why Akane of all people didn't want to go on a training trip, he had to ask a professional. Checking the amount of yen in his pockets, Ranma knocked on Nabiki's door.

The door opened and Nabiki grinned at one of her favorite suckers. "Well, if it isn't Ranma. What brings you here? Wait, let me guess. My little sister is mad at you again?"

"Erm, something like that. The tomboy doesn't wanna go on a training trip. So somethin's gotta be up. Said she had plans, yeah right."

"And you want me to find out what those are? What are you, a stalker?"

Ranma shoved some yen into Nabiki's hand to shut her up, which happened to work. "Just find out what it is, ok?"

Nabiki handed Ranma a cassette player and pressed the play button, which caused it to play some cheesy elevator music. "One moment please." She then proceeded to slam the door in his face.

Ranma waited for a few minutes in front of Nabiki's door, holding the cassette player, and generally feeling pretty stupid. The door opened slightly, and the middle Tendo poked her head out. "She's going on a date with Ryouga to the fair on Saturday."

"WHAT?" Ranma shrieked.

"Thank you for the business. Now go away." Nabiki grabbed the cassette player out of Ranma's hands and slammed the door in his face a second time. Ranma noticed none of this, however.

"Why that no good, fiancée stealing, PIG!" Ranma cracked his knuckles. "Ok P-chan, it's time you had another fiancée."

**

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

Uh-oh. Looks like Ryouga's got problems coming over the horizon. Can Ukyo and Kenji keep our hero out of trouble? Is Akari going to give up so easily? What is Ranma planning? Will Ryoga even make it to the fair? Find out next chapter of A Fighting Chance! 

Responses:

Ryo-chan wolfgirl: Muwhahaha, it gets even better next chapter, so stay tunned.

Lord Kamui: Who said she ISN'T going to sell the info to Soun and Genma? And yes, they'll get new stuff too.

w00t! Finals are over, and I beat Chrono Trigger, again! What does this mean? It means I'm going to slack off writing fanfiction and enjoy my summer! Screw you all! Just kidding. More free time means more time to think up weird situations to shove Ranma½ characters into. See you next chapter.


	4. Operation: Lovey Dovey Part 1

"Whoa, this ain't good…" Kaito mumbled to himself, surrounded by angry RanmaxAkane fans, readers who were pissed about months of no updates, and irate otakus for making a mockery of a great anime. Things looked bleak for our favorite author. However, he had an ace up his sleeve, even though the Kevin of Seiken Densetsu III outfit that he was currently wearing didn't have sleeves. Kaito grinned and then leapt into the air with a roar of "SERIYU DEATH FIST!!!" The screen fades to black and then three gashes tear through it with a loud roar. The blackness fades, revealing Kaito standing on top of a pile of broken and battered bodies, some of which were moaning pitifully and begging forgiveness. Like the great soul that he is, Kaito forgives them, takes his 2705 EXP (level up!) and walks off.

Ok, now that the ego feeding garbage is over with, on to the disclaimer:

I don't own Ranma½… yet. These characters are just being manipulated and toyed with in order to write a hopefully interesting and FREE story. So don't sue, yes? I guess, what's his name… (author checks the previous chapter) Kenji and Lotion are technically my property, but people can use them if they want.

Well, it's been what, half a year? Heh, sorry folks. A lot of stuff came up. Well, as apology to the handful of people who had enjoyed the story, this chapter will be a lot longer, and more will be on the way, I promise. I tried very hard to make this chapter very entertaining, so I hope you're in for a treat.

**

* * *

CHAPTER 4: Operation: Lovey Dovey - Part One**

* * *

"Hey, chill out man! You're just going to the fair. It's not like you're going to a love hotel or anything." Kenji half yelled at his friend in frustration. The two boys were currently traveling to the Tendo Dojo to begin Ryouga's outing with the fair Akane Tendo. Hopefully it would be a day full of magical enchantment, and all that other sappy love stuff that one hopes of when going on their first date. Ryouga was wearing his usual clothes, but had opted not to take the backpack or umbrella. He had wanted to wear a tux, but Kenji and Ukyou talked him out of it, saying that it would give the wrong impression. As for Ukyou, she was currently at the fair making sure that none of the Nerima regulars were there.

Ryouga turned and regarded his friend. "Hey why are you wearing that getup?" He asked, pointing at Kenji's clothes. The alien was wearing a black business suit and tie, covered by a long, grey trench coat. A matching color rimmed hat and dark sunglasses finished the look, giving him the appearance of a federal agent.

Kenji turned to him and grinned. "Oh my guardian suit? Why, do you want one too?" He then started to laugh uncontrollably.

Ryouga raised his eyebrow at him in confusion. "Guardian suit?"

Kenji managed to stop laughing and nodded to his friend. "Yeah, it was Ukyou's idea."

FLASHBACK:

Kenji yawned and leaned heavily on the broom handle. It was late at night. The night before Ryouga's big day. The lost boy had gone to get a good night's sleep and Kenji was sweeping the restaurant before he would go to bed himself. He stopped when he heard Ukyou's voice. "Hey Kenji, come into the store room for a second."

Wondering what this about, he set the broom against the wall and crossed the restaurant area into the back of the building where the store room was located. Amid the crates and packages of okonomiyaki ingredients, Ukyou stood at the lone table with a large grin on her face. "Check it out!" She spun around on one foot, ending in a pose and tipped her hat at him. "So what do you think, sugar?"

'Holy crap, she's cute!' the alien thought to himself, with a slight blush. He immediately snapped out of it and crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's the deal Ukyou? You with the government or something?"

She laughed and shook her had at him. "Heh, no. This is what we'll be wearing tomorrow. I call it the Guardian Suit! Cool, huh?"

Kenji nearly fell over at that. "You mean I have to wear one too?! And why call it a Guardian Suit?" He asked once he regained his composure.

Ukyou laughed again, still in a cheerful mood. "Of course you have to wear one! And it's called a Guardian Suit because we're going to be Ryouga's guardian angels from now on! I'm determined to get that boy shacked up with Akane, and you're going help me if you know what's good for you!" She picked up a package of what he guessed was his own suit from the table and tossed it to him. "Here catch. Now let's see how you look in one."

The alien sighed. "Why me…"

END FLASHBACK:

Ryouga laughed at his friend. "So you two are my guardian angels, huh? Well, thanks because I'm going to need it…" They walked up to the dojo, and Kenji waved goodbye as Ryouga walked up to the front door and was greeted by Kasumi.

After the lost boy had entered, Kenji took a handheld radio out of his pocket. "Guardian One, this is Guardian Two. Romeo has entered the castle. I say again, Romeo has entered the castle. Over."

"This is Guardian One. Roger that, Guardian Two, The picnic has no ants. Proceed to phase two. Do you copy?"

"I copy that, Guardian One. Guardian Two, out."

The alien grinned at the Tendo Dojo for a moment before he turned around and jumped onto a nearby rooftop and sped away. Operation: Lovey Dovey was underway!

* * *

Tendo Akane looked herself over in the mirror. She was wearing a white blouse with broad black belt around the waist, and black slacks. Typical 'hang out with a friend' clothes. She had been looking forward to a nice day at the fair without Ranma or any of the chaos that seemed to follow him around like a lost puppy. The fact that she was going with Ryouga had annoyed the young Saotome, and Akane took great pleasure in that. She had even gone as far as calling it a date, just to see him squirm.

Up in his room, Ranma paced around irritably. Just what the heck is the tomboy playing at?! Not that he CARED, of course. It's just that Pop and Mr. Tendo would be angry that they didn't go on the planned training trip. He hen heard a small voice in his head that said 'Heh, yeah right. Just admit you've got feelings for Ak—' After squashing said voice, and dragging it back down into the dark deep dungeons of his mind once again, the young Saotome continued his mental tirade. Why would she go to the fair with pig boy anyway? He'd just get lost on the way to the top of the ferris wheel. And Ryouga! Who did he think he was, waltzin in and snatchin away Akane like that?! We'll he'd get what was coming to him soon enough. Once they left the house, Ranma would put his plans into motion.

Ryouga was greeted at the door by Kasumi. After a cheerful greeting he was led inside, and into the living room by the oldest Tendo daughter. They sat down on the couch and started up a conversation, while waiting for Akane.

Kasumi picked up a cup of tea from the table. She had placed a tray of tea and rolls there ahead of time, for the two of them to share. She took a sip, and examined the lost boy. She knew he had feelings for her younger sister, but hadn't said anything up until now, as she expected nothing would come of it. "So Ryouga, you are going to spend the day with Akane then?" she said gently, with a small smile.

The lost boy nodded his head and hesitantly picked up a cup of tea, obviously still nervous about the whole thing. "Y-yes, Kasumi-san. I thought it might be nice, since the fair was in town and all…"

Kasumi merely took another sip of tea, and then paused for a moment before asking the next question in her gentle interrogation. "Ryouga, why did you only ask my sister to go the fair with you? I understand that you did not ask either Ukyou or Kenji to come."

Ryouga gulped. Kasumi seemed to be leading her questions in a particular way, and he didn't like where this conversation was going. Quickly, he searched for some kind of excuse. "Um… they said they couldn't come. They had plans of their own they had to take care of." As soon as he said that, he mentally kicked himself. Yeah right, like she'd buy that.

Indeed, the eldest Tendo sister had not bought it. She sighed and put her cup down, before looking Ryouga squarely in the eyes. "Ryouga, why do you really want to spend the day with my sister?"

Ryouga looked down at the floor in shame. He should've known better to try to deceive Kasumi like that. The older girl seemed to pick up on the slightest things with the people she talked with. "Kasumi-san, I really like Akane. She's such a kind and caring person. And although I know I'd enjoy it myself, this day is really for her benefit. I want to give her a nice, fun, worry free day. She deserves one, especially with having to put up with Saotome." He added with a frown.

Kasumi seemed to accept this, as she showed one of her patented smiles. "Very well. It is good that you are being so nice to Akane." She then sighed again, looking tired. "However, you do know that my sister is already engaged. I can not say I approve of you chasing after her, as only trouble will come of it. But I trust you will not take advantage of her, as you have proven yourself to be a nice boy many times." Kasumi then regarded the lost boy seriously. "However, if I find out that you did take advantage of her, then I'd have to… punish you…"

Ryouga squeaked with fright at the way she said 'punish you'. He didn't even want to think about what an irate Kasumi was capable of. The world might not survive such a thing. He quickly nodded his head repeatedly. "I promise I won't do anything like that, Kasumi-san."

During this time, Sound and Genma muttered darkly to themselves while playing a game of shogi nearby. These were dark times to the two fathers. They had to work up a scheme, and quick.

"Tendo, we must keep that boy from getting any ideas about Akane!"

"Yes Saotome. I've seen him around before. I've seen the looks he gives to my daughter. He must be taught not to interfere with family honor."

The two of them then began making plans of their own to pay the fair a visit.

Back in the living room, Ryouga and Kasumi had conformed into a friendly chat. "So Ryouga, how have you been doing? I heard that you and your friend are staying at Ukyou's now." Kasumi inquired with that ever-present smile on her face.

"Yeah, it was pretty nice of her to let us stay like that. I'm doing fine, Kasumi. How has life been over here? I haven't been over in awhile, so I wouldn't know. We've been busy with school and the restaurant." Actually, busy was an understatement. The spatula girl really worked her new slav- new houseguests very hard. Ryouga was doubly pleased for today. Not only did he get to spend time with his beloved Akane, Ukyou had let them take yesterday off to prepare.

Akane herself chose this time to descend down the stairs and into the living room. Smiling, she waved to Ryouga. "Hey there! You ready to head out?"

Clearing the Akane-induced haze from his mind, the lost boy rose from his seat and handed her a small package. "I meant to give you this the other day, but…" He didn't know how to finish the sentence. 'I was too busy fantasizing about you' didn't seem like an appropriate thing to say. Fortunately, he didn't have to.

Akane opened the package. "Oh, Ryouga… I don't know what to say…" it was a platinum chain bracelet inlaid with small emeralds.

"I got it while me and Kenji were trying to make our way to Nerima. We were in some city in Southeast Asia, and I saw that in the marketplace. I thought you might like it, so I picked it up as a souvenir."

Akane slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. "Thanks, Ryouga-kun. Now let's get out of here!" And with that, the two left the house and headed off to the fair.

Kenji watched the two of them exit the house while crouching down on a nearby rooftop. After Ryouga had entered the house, he had taken a quick reconnaissance. No threats seemed to be heading their way, which was good. He had made it back just before Akane and Ryouga were about to leave. The alien took out his radio and spoke into it. "Guardian One, this is Guardian two. Over."

"This is Guardian One. What's our status? Over."

"Romeo and Juliet are leaving the castle. I say again Romeo and Juliet are leaving the castle. We are now enroute to your location. Do you copy?"

"I copy that, guardian Two. The picnic is still ant free. Keep your eyes peeled. The day has just begun, and you know how Nerima is. Anything that can happen WILL happen. Guardian One, out."

* * *

It was time to make some money.

Nabiki knew exactly where her sister's fiancée was going to be all day, today. So she decided to cash in. Arriving at the Kuno residence, she knocked on the doors to the huge mansion.

Sasuke opened the door, and after seeing who it was, let Nabiki in and took her to see Kuno. The kendoist was in the training hall, trying to establish better control of his new phoenix sword technique. He looked up at her and smiled welcomingly.

"Ah, it is Nabiki Tendo. Thou has cometh to peddle more pictures of thy fair sister and the pigtailed girl?"

"Of course, Kuno-baby. You know you can always count on me to peddle you some pictures." After showing her merchandise, she looked at him expectantly. "Standard price. 50,000 yen."

"For such pictures, I would gladly pay double the price!" Kuno declared, then immediately regretted it.

Nabiki smiled at him like a wolf would smile at a cornered rabbit. "Well that's good, because they just doubled in price."

Forking over the cash, Kuno frowned. "Thou surely have a shrewd business sense, Nabiki Tendo!"

"Oh Kuno-baby, don't feel bad." Nabiki cooed. "You know what? Since I feel generous, I'll give you a bargain. For the low price off 500,000 yen, I'll tell you the exact whereabouts of where my little sister, the pigtailed girl, AND Ranma will be all day."

The yen practically flew into Nabiki's hand. Kuno leaned forward eagerly. "Where art my goddesses Akane and the pigtailed girl? And where is that vile sorcerer Saotome hiding himself from the wrath of Tatewaki Kuno?!"

"Oh, they'll all be at the fair today."

Once the word 'fair' had left her mouth, Kuno was gone from the room. The ninja servant decided that he'd best show Nabiki out and started to lead her to the door. Nabiki he stopped him halfway there. "One more thing, could you please take me to see Kodachi?"

Kodachi was in her lab. She was currently trying to make a love potion that would only affect Ranma. Unstable as she was, even Kodachi knew that love potions tended to backfire more than they worked, and she was determined to make sure that didn't happen. Sensing that someone was approaching her, she pushed the protective goggles from her eyes to her forehead. "And who is it that disturbs the Black Rose's work?" she demanded, turning around to face whoever it was. Surprisingly, it was the sister of her rival, Nabiki Tendo.

"Oh, it's just me." The middle Tendo sister replied. "I've got some information for sale. The exact location of where Ranma will be spending all day, for 100,000 yen"

"Do tell." Kodachi said, opening her purse.

"He'll be at the fair."

Afterwards, Nabiki left the Kuno mansion, and then made her way the Nekohanten. Shampoo had paid her a generous sum of money and then raced into the kitchen to cook up a batch of spiced ramen. Even Mousse had paid a modest amount to learn the location of the 'enemy of all women' before he went off to prepare his arsenal. She went to Ucchan's but no one was there. Shrugging, she decided that it was Ukyou's loss if she didn't want to know where Ranma would be, and went home.

It was days like today the Nabiki was quite proud of her ability to turn anything into a hefty profit. This was her domain, where she reigned as queen. Nothing in Nerima happened without her knowing, and making money, about it.

* * *

"No silly, it's THIS way!" Akane said, tugging her friend in the right direction for the tenth time. "Look, just follow my lead, ok?" She grabbed the lost boy's hand and started walking down the street towards the fair.

Ryouga's already severely overstressed mind neared the breaking point. Fortunately the fair wasn't much farther, or he might have been in danger of losing it before they got there.

Up on the rooftops, Kenji watched them with a large grin. "Good job, Ryouga! That was a rather clever plan to get her to hold your hand like that." He was personally proud of his friend. He honestly feared that the lost boy might have flipped out during the walk to the fair, but if his friend was capable of making subtle plans like that, there was nothing to worry about.

Had the alien been paying less attention to Akane and Ryouga and more attention on the surroundings, he would've noticed that he wasn't the only one shadowing the pair. Using all the stealth she could muster, a heavily disguised female Ranma Saotome followed them at a distance. She was glad the street was pretty crowded, or they might have felt her presence in the area. Dashing from a bush to a light post, she watched as her fiancée took her rival's hand, and gripped the light post so hard that it started to crack. "Just you wait, Ryouga! It'll put a stop to this when we get to the fair!" She took this time to check her disguise, as they were near the fair and she wanted to make sure no one would notice her.

Had Ranma paid attention to his surroundings, he'd notice there were MORE people coming to make sure nothing happened between Ryouga and Akane. Soun and Genma decided to give the two teenagers a head start, by checking into their favorite bar for a short while. Once they felt that a significant amount of time had passed (and they ran out of money to buy more sake) they started heading to the fair.

Once they reached the fair, Ryouga and Akane decided to do something thrilling first and went over to the rollercoaster. On the way, they picked up some cotton candy. Standing in line, they munched on the sweet food and chatted. "So, is this your first time at the fair, Ryouga?" the youngest Tendo asked, smiling at her companion.

"Nah. My parents took me to one once. It took us forever to find our way, and once we got there, I was too scared to go on any dangerous ride. The cotton candy is still as good as I remember it, though."

"Dad used to take us every year, until mom…" Akane looked down, the memory of her mother causing her to get slightly depressed.

Ryouga noticed this and tried to change the subject. "So... um, what do you think of roller coasters?" As soon as he said it, he mentally kicked himself for it. 'Oh good one, Hibiki! What a wonderfully idiotic thing to say.'

Fortunately, it did the trick. Akane actually had a passion about roller coasters. Almost jumping up and down with excitement, she beamed. "They're so cool! I love it when they do all the loops and corkscrews, and the big pit falls are the best! Oh, it's all so exciting!"

The rollercoaster was all that Akane had hoped for and more. The pride of the Nerima fair, it was not for the faint of heart, going well over 150mph. Officially named 'The Shinobi' the riders spent more time up-side-down, and sideways than sitting normally. Its massive jumble of track contained sudden drops, loops, and corkscrews everywhere. After the thrilling ride, Ryouga and Akane stumbled towards a nearby bench, so they could rest until the world stopped tumbling around. Breathlessly, Ryouga muttered to himself "That… was… amazing…"

"Yeah, let's do it again!" Akane jumped up and cheered, and instantly clutched her head in pain. "Ugh, maybe later though." As they decided what to do next, Kenji relaxed in a bench nearby but out of their immediate area. He had told Ryouga that he would be at the fair, but he didn't want to get in their way. The alien munched on some cotton candy of his own and mentally declared the planet Earth to be the best known source of good food in the galaxy. He then noticed Genma sneaking up on them with a large linen sac in his hands. What he was planning to do with it, Kenji didn't know, but it didn't matter as the alien calmly withdrew a small water pistol from his trench coat, and with precise accuracy, shot the elder Saotome in the face with it."

Genma panda blinked in confusion. Hadn't he been human just a second ago? "Hey, you! What do you think you're doing wandering around like that!" A local security guard questioned him, not caring at all that he was actually expecting an answer from a panda. Before Genma could even hold up a sign saying "Who, me?" some animal control agents showed up and threw a net around him before dragging him off and away from Ryouga and Akane.

Kenji took out his radio again. "Guardian One, this is Guardian Two. We've got ants. Genma showed up. I got rid of him, but Soun's probably around somewhere. Keep on the lookout. Over"

"Roger that, Guardian Two. I'll look for him." Kenji could've sworn he heard a giggle in the radio as his partner continued. "So how are the lovebirds doing?"

He laughed and replied, "oh, they're doing just fine. They went on something called a roller coaster, and now they're sitting on a bench and recovering from it." He noticed his friend and would-be date getting up and walking off. "Now they're on the move again, I gotta go." He stood up and prepared to shadow the couple.

"Roger that. Stay on them; I'll probably join up with you when I get a chance. Guardian One, out."

* * *

Lotion walked with her best friend through the crowded paths of the fair. She was pleasantly surprised when Mousse had asked her to go, but then shortly figured out that it was only because he received and anonymous tip that his worst enemy would be at the fair and he needed a pretext to be there as well. Still, it was nice to be away from the restaurant and that cat. She playfully hooked her arm around his.

"These fairs that the Japanese have are pretty nice, you think?" She said happily in between bites of cotton candy.

Mousse looked left and right for his prey, barely registering her words. "Yeah, I suppose so. You don't see Saotome anywhere, do you? He might be in his cursed female form, so watch out for that too."

Lotion sighed and stopped walking, which pulled her friend to a stop as well. "Mousse, what exactly did he do to you, anyway? You never motioned it. It's not like you to be so hateful about someone like that. It worries me."

Mousse looked away and scowled. "That… that, bastard… he's stolen my beloved Shampoo away from me without even trying to! She's hopelessly in love with him and he doesn't even want her. And it's not just her too! He's got Akane, Ukyou, Kodachi, and kami knows who else chasing after him! He doesn't even try to tell them that he's not interested. If he did, I might have some tiny amount of sympathy for him, but NO! He just strings them all along, taking advantage of them whenever he wants something, and then abandoning them when he gets what he wants! He makes me sick!"

The pink haired amazon sighed again. "I see. I understand not liking Saotome about stringing women along. I must agree I do not like him either now that I have learned this, but that's not what you hate him for. Its Shampoo isn't it? Mousse, I keep telling you, that you deserve better than Shampoo. She's ruining your life, don't you see that?! I cannot and will not standby and watch you destroy yourself over her!"

Mousse spun around fiercely and was about to spit out a scathing retort back at his friend before he stopped himself and sighed while slowly shaking his head. "Lotion, I know you are concerned for my welfare, but you just don't understand. I love Shampoo. I would gladly throw my life away for her happiness. Ever since we were children I have chased after her unsuccessfully. It's hard to describe what I feel for her, but I know that it is something that I feel for no one else. I just know it is love, it has to be! I only wish you knew the same feeling." He then began walking along the path again.

Lotion stood there and gazed at the ground sadly. "Yeah me too, my dear friend. Maybe someday I will know love." She then looked up and followed her friend, no longer in a cheerful mood.

Nearby, Ukyou watched them from the safety of her guardian suit. She considered contacting Kenji about it but decided against it. Neither of those two had much of an interest in Ryouga or Akane. They were probably just enjoying the fair, and getting away from running their restaurant for a change. The chef smiled at them, hoping they would find happiness with each other. The smile turned into a frown as she saw Soun walking along the paths of the fair, holding linen sac in hands and a scowl on his face. This looked to be trouble. Ukyou shadowed him, her mind quickly coming up with a plan on removing him from the picture.

* * *

"Stay here Ryouga, I'll be right back." Akane smiled at him and headed off to find a bathroom. Ryouga sat on a bench, high on bliss. This had to be the greatest day of his life, he was sure of it. Lost in his own world, he didn't notice a strange girl sneak up on him until she grabbed him and dragged him away behind a nearby building. "Huh, wha?" was all he managed to say during the process. Fortunately for him, Kenji had noticed.

The strange girl glared at him. She was wearing large glasses and a yellow hat with a sunflower in it with a matching color dress. She put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Hey Ryouga, what's the deal? I thought we were good friends, and you didn't even want to spend the day at fair with me…" The girl began to cry. "Y-you were the first boy to ever be nice to me…" She sniffed, occasionally sending hidden glances his way.

Ryouga was distraught. What kind of jerk was he, making this poor girl cry? She didn't look familiar, but maybe she knew him from school. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey don't cry…"

She suddenly glomped onto him, and cried into his chest. "R-ryouga you were the boy I… I ever... l-liked…" She looked up at him and sniffled with tears in her eyes. "Why won't you spend time with me?" Inwardly the girl smirked. 'Yeah, say no to THAT, P-chan!'

On the roof of the same building, Kenji looked down at the scene in amazement, slowly shaking his head. "Damn… he's good." He unscrewed the top of a thermos that he carried hot water in and began to fill his water pistol with it.

Nearby, Akane was worried. Where did Ryouga go? She had only left him there for a few minutes. She started checking around the immediate area, hoping that he was still nearby. She had really been enjoying the day, and it would be disappointing if they had to end it early.

Ryouga's heart broke as he looked down at the girl. He was disgusted with himself. What kind of monster was he to do such a thing to this poor girl?! He hugged her to him and spoke softly. "It's ok... don't cry. Look we can spend the day together if it will make you feel better. I'll be my way of apologizing for my actions to you. I am truly sorry."

The girl stopped crying and sniffled some more as she gazed at him in wonder. "R-really… do you mean it?"

Before Ryouga could reply, he heard Akane's voice nearby. "Hey Ryouga, where are you?"

Ryouga pulled himself away from the strange girl. "I'm over here Akane." He heard the sound of Akane walking over to him and turned to her, smiling. "Oh hey, Akane! I'd like you to meet my friend from school…" He turned to where the girl had been standing a moment ago, but she wasn't there. "Huh?"

The girl timidly poked her head out slightly from behind Ryouga and stared at Akane. "Ryouga, I'm scared… let's get away from here." She prepared herself to grab the lost boy and quickly dash away on the tops of buildings so that Akane couldn't follow.

"Oh no you don't…" Kenji whispered, aware of what was about to happen. With an aim that would impress a special forces scout sniper, he shot the girl's forehead from his spot on the roof of the building, causing the transformation to occur. Satisfied with his handiwork, he settled down to watch the fireworks.

Ranma's hat, wig, and glasses fell off and he blinked, confused at the sudden transformation. He patted down his body to make sure he hadn't imagined it. "How the heck did that happen…" He looked up to see the irate forms of both Ryouga and Akane glaring at him and growling. The looks on their face promised him excruciating pain on his near future. "Uh… hi guys…" He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "Fancy meeting you two here…"

"RANMA!!!" As one, Ryouga and Akane raced forward and gave him a vicious uppercut, sending the young Saotome flying off into the distance.

Ryouga turned to the youngest Tendo and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry for ruining your day Akane. I should've known that was Ranma. He always pulls stunts like that. You probably want to go home now…"

Akane just grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off, scowling. "Don't worry about that jerk, Ryouga-kun. He's not worth the effort. Let's just enjoy our day."

On the roof of the building, Kenji smiled. It was going to take a lot more than that to ruin his friend's day. He leapt off the building and began to follow the couple at a distance, now more alert for gender switching martial artists.

* * *

Soun groaned as he pulled himself out of the garbage bin. Somehow as he was searching for his daughter and the Hibiki boy, he was hit in the face with a flour bomb. As he tried to reorient himself from the sudden attack, he was wrapped up in soba noodles and then hit with what looked like giant spatula and sent flying into a garbage bin. The impact had knocked him out for half an hour and he was just now regaining consciousness.

In a different part of the fair, Ukyou was on the look out for other threats to the operation. She spotted Happosai bounding around, causing his usual havoc and mayhem. The chef groaned. If he spotted Akane and tried to molest her, she'd be in a foul mood for the rest of the day. She'd have to call for backup if she needed to take the old pervert down, but fortunately Akane and Ryouga were with Kenji in a different section of the fair.

"Hey beautiful, you doing anything today?" an all too familiar voice behind her cooed.

Ukyou spun around to face Tsubasa, ready to smash his skull in. She did NOT need this today. As she saw him, she blinked. He wasn't cross-dressing or even in disguise of anything. He was just wearing a t-shirt and slacks and had his hair cut in a normal male fashion. No bow or anything. Needless to say, Ukyou was speechless.

Tsubasa picked up on this. "Yeah, I figured you didn't like the disguises or my cross-dressing. It looks like you like me better this way after all." He took a step towards her and grinned. "So what do you say, want to enjoy the fair with me?"

Ukyou removed he hand from the handle of her battle spatula. "Look Tsubasa, I like the change and all but I'm busy today. Maybe some other time." She turned to walk away but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh common, baby. You know you want to-" Tsubasa was cut off as the chef spun around and slammed her battle spatula into his face, sending him off into the distance.

Ukyou glared at his departure. "He's still a jackass, no matter what he's wearing!" She jumped in surprise as a pigtailed martial artist flew out of the sky and landed next to her with a groan. "Ranchan!" She looked down at him and noticed that he was wearing a dress and raised an eyebrow. "Okay… I'm just going to ignore the clothes." She helped him to his feet and sat him down on a bench before squirting him with her water pistol. It wouldn't do to have people staring at him while he was like this.

The transformation brought Ranma back to the world of the conscious. "Thanks Ucchan…" She held her head in her hands until the world stopped spinning. Once she was sure that her brain was in working order, she turned to Ukyou and raised an eyebrow at her clothes. "What's the deal Ukyou, you with the government or somethin?"

Ukyou laughed at that. "Kenji said the exact same thing." She stopped laughing and gazed at Ranma in concern. "Ranma-honey, what happened to you? Did you get in a fight with Cologne again?"

"No, I…" Ranma stopped and regarded the other girl as if seeing her for the first time. Suddenly she smiled charmingly at her, a plan forming in her mind. "Hey Ucchan, want to enjoy the fair with me today?"

Ukyou looked worried. "I dunno, Ranchan… I…" She bit her bottom lip as she thought about it. This would be a perfect opportunity to spend time with her fiancée, but what about the operation? She didn't know what to decide. Yeah, getting Ranma to herself is what the whole plan was for, but it wouldn't mean much until Akane was out of the picture.

Ranma was confused. Ukyou didn't want to go on a date with him? What was going on? She decided to pour on the charm in hopes it would win the cook over. "Common, Ucchan. I'll go get some hot water and a change of clothes and show you a great time. Just the two of us."

Ukyou couldn't help herself. Her eyes gleamed over in passion as she imagined them together. "Well, okay…" She smiled as Ranma took her hand and they strolled off to find a bathroom so he could change.

* * *

Akane sighed as the goldfish fell through the paper scoop once again. She was starting to wonder is the whole thing was rigged, you could never tell with these kinds of games. She turned to the lost boy who was standing well away from the fish tank, watching her. "You sure you don't want to try it too, Ryouga? It's pretty fun, even if you don't catch anything."

Ryouga shook his head at her and smiled. "No thanks, I'm having fun just watching you. Go ahead Akane-san."

Once the last of her scoops broke, Ryouga and Akane walked over to the next booth. This one featured tossing bandannas at stationary targets set on the inside of the booth. The lost boy cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Any prize you in want, Akane-san?"

Akane pointed to a giant stuffed pig. It looked basically like P-chan, bandanna and all, except that it was ten times larger. Akane jumped up and down. "Oooh, can I have that one, Ryouga-kun?"

Ryouga grimaced. It just HAD to be that one didn't it? He paid the owner of the booth for several bandannas who in turn winked at him and whispered, "Good luck son. You'll need it if you want the one your cute girlfriend wanted." Blushing furiously, Ryouga spun all the bandannas at once on one finger. He spun them faster and faster until they were at the speed he wanted, and with a flick of his wrist, sent all of the bandannas flying. To the booth owner's amazement, each one struck its target with deadly accuracy.

Akane giggled and accepted her oversized P-chan. "Thanks, Ryouga. I guess this kind of thing is your specialty." They walked away and down the path, Akane hugging her giant stuffed pig tightly. After a bit, they were stopped by a man in traditional Japanese festival clothing.

"Step right up and test your strength! Only 100 yen a swing!" The man cheerfully put an arm around Ryouga's shoulder and led him to a machine nearby. He glanced at Akane and whispered to the lost boy, "Hey buddy, wanna impress your companion over there? A strong lad like you could probably go all the way!" He motioned to a tall structure with a circular bell at the top. There was a long groove in the structure that ran from the bell all the way down to where a cylindrical weight and small rectangular platform rested.

Akane tried to keep a straight face. To any martial artist worth their salt, this strength tester was a joke. The man was in for a surprise. Ryouga shrugged and paid the man the money and was handed a large two handed mallet. Carrying it one handed, he calmly strolled over to the platform and quickly slammed the mallet down on top of it. The weight flew up to the bell and shattered it. Ryouga handed the mallet back to the stunned man, and the couple walked away, laughing uncontrollably.

As the couple continued to sample the games at the fair, Kenji looked up at the sky from the top of a nearby building. The sun was just starting to set. "Common Ryouga, stick to the plan!" He gazed anxiously at the two martial artists.

The lost boy noticed the setting of the sun as well, and began to panic. 'Oh crap. I was having so much fun, that I lost track of time. Kami, I'm not ready for this! What if she says no?' He looked at Akane who was busy tossing rings onto a set of bottles. In a rare moment of decisiveness, Ryouga decided to go for it. At least when all was said and done, he could say he tried. "Hey Akane, can I ask you something?"

Akane tossed the last of her rings, and missed once again. "Oh darn." She turned to her friend and smiled. "Yeah, sure Ryouga. What is it?" She started to walk over to him.

Ryouga gulped and started to fumble with his hands. "Um… would you like to ride the ferris wheel with me? It's ok if you don't want to. I was just wondering." He looked at the ground, unable to face her.

Akane grabbed his hand and started to lead him down the path, towards the ferris wheel. "Of course I would, Ryouga-kun. I haven't been on one in years! They're one of my favorite things about fairs." As he was led by the young Tendo girl, Ryouga silently thanked the kami.

Kenji punched the air in victory. "Hell yeah! Way to go, buddy!" Ukyou had said that getting them to ride the ferris wheel at sunset was the backbone of the whole operation. On Earth, especially in Japanese culture, it was supposed to be the most romantic thing you could do at a fair. There were many couples that confessed their feelings to each other during this time. Elated, he took out his two-way radio. "This is Guardian Two, Romeo and Juliet are on their way to the carriage. I say again: they are on their way to the carriage! Phase four is now underway. What's your status, over?"

After several minutes had passed in silence, Kenji tried again. "Hey, Ukyou… you there?" Again, there was no response. 'What the hell…' The alien wondered what to do. Since his partner hadn't responded he began to worry that something had happened to her. But what of the operation? Ukyou had made it VERY clear that they were not to fail under any circumstance. After a moment, Kenji nodded to himself and sped away on the rooftops, knowing exactly which choice to make.

TO BE CONTINUED

Ok, I'm back folks. After nearly 2 years of endless programming, I've realized that making a video game is like trying to fill in a lake. No matter how much you accomplish, you never seem any closer. So I pushed it down a little in my priority list, because I want to see physical progress with some of my creations, such as fanfiction for example.

Responses:

Ryo-chan wolfgirl: Well, Ranma's in for a lot of pain and chaos in his near future. He's not about to let Ryouga take Akane away from him, and our favorite lost boy won't let her go very easily as well.

Anonymous Chibi: Thank you for your reviews, I enjoyed them. I'll reply to your reviews by chapter. Chapter 1 – Yes, I needed another friend on Ryouga's side and an alien didn't seem to have been done before. Lotion is completely made up by yours truly. Chapter 2- It was fun to write that fight, though I hope it was done right. I'm still new at writing fight scenes. I'm trying to keep the characters mostly in character, but I'm tweaking them ever so slightly to get the plot to go how I want it to. Chapter 3- Luck is probably the most important character for Ryouga's cause, and his brothers the opposite. Akari will indeed, be causing problems throughout the story. Sorry, but we all know that Ranma is deeply in love with Akane, even though he won't admit it. So I couldn't see him just staying at home while she's out having fun with his rival.

The second, and final part of Operation: Lovey Dovey, will be mostly about Ukyou's role in the whole thing, ending up with a very interesting climax of the fair. There's still a whole lot more to the story coming up. Ryouga and Ranma's epic duel, what happened in Lotion Mousse and Shampoo's past, as well as Akane's training as a respectable Neriman martial artist (yeah, you heard me). Heck, the antagonist of the story hasn't even shown up yet, so stay tuned!


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